Beach blanket anchor



Filed May 21, 1963 IN VENTOR 245/?1/2555 United States Patent 3,237,904 BEACH BLANKET ANCHOR Michael Abruzese, 237 6th Ave. NE., St. Petersburg, Fla. Filed May 21, 1963, Ser. No. 281,968 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-361) The present invention relates to anchors particularly arranged to retain a blanket, beach towel, or the like, on the sand at a beach, and in particular an anchor by which a towel, blanket, or the like, may be secured in a stationary position on a beach without pins, straps, or other mechanical fastening elements.

The purpose of this invention is to provide means for anchoring a sheet of material, such as a blanket, or beach towel, in substantially a stationary position on a beach or the like without permanently attaching elements to the sheet of material, and also without damaging the. sheet of material.

Maintaining beach blankets stretched on the sand at a beach has always been a problem, particularly when the wind is blowing, because the edges and corners of a blanket or towel roll or turn over, and when a bather returns the blanket is distorted and in numerous instances, embedded in the sand. With this thought in mind this invention contemplates means for anchoring the edges, and particularly the corners, of a blanket, with the blanket outstretched upon the sand at a beach without attaching elements to the blanket, and without making holes through the blanket.

The object of this invention is -to provide anchoring means for maintaining a blanket in an outstretched position upon a beach in which the anchoring means is independent of the blanket.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a face plate of flexible material and having an opening therethrough, and a staff having a head on one end and designed whereby the head may be inserted through the opening of the face plate.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing the corner of a blanket, or the like, with the corner of the blanket retained in position by the anchor of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing a complete blanket or beach towel with the four corners thereof anchored in the sand.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of an anchoring staff.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the face plate of the anchor illustrating another modification wherein the outer edges of the opening through the center of the face plate are provided with recesses.

FIGURE 5 is a cross section through the anchor of this invention showing the blanket wrapped around the head of the staff.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the face plate illustrating the opening movements of side portions thereof in receiving the head of the staff where the size of the head is greater than that of the center opening of the face plate.

While several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the above-referred-to drawings, it is to be understood that they are merely for the purpose of illustration and that various changes in construction may be resorted to in the course of manufacture in order that the invention may be utilized to the best advantage according to circumstances which may arise, without in any manner departing from the spirit and intention of the invention, which is to be limited only in accordance with the appended claims. And while there is stated the primary field of utility of the invention it remains obvious that it may be employed in any other capacity wherein it may be found applicable.

In the accompanying drawings and in the following specification, the same reference characters are used to designate the same parts and elements throughout, and in which the invention includes a face plate 10, and a staff 11, having a head 12. i

In the most simple form the face plate 10 is provided with a center opening 14, and longitudinally disposed slots 15 and 16, at the ends of which are T-shaped cross slots 17 and 18. With the slots arranged in this manner the face plate 10 is placed upon a blanket 19, and the immediate portion of the blanket pressed upwardly by the head 12 of the staff, with the blanket passing up wardly through the opening 14 and slots 15 and 16. The head of the staff is then drawn downwardly urging the blanket against the upper surface of the face plate, as shown in FIGURE 5, and with the staff pressed downwardly into the sand, the blanket is anchored in position.

The head of the staff may be round, as shown in FIG- URES 1 and 3, or of any suitable shape.

In FIGURE 4 a face plate 22 is provided with a center opening 23 with longitudinally disposed slots 24 and 25 and cross slots 26 and 27, and in this design the sides of the center opening 23 are provided with recesses 23 and 29 to facilitate inserting and removing the head of the staff in and from the openings of the face plate.

With the opening through the face plate formed with the center portion 14, and slots 15, 16, and 17 and 18, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 6, the face plate will stretch so that the opening therein is substantially three times its size, with the portions of the face plate bulged upwardly and downwardly, as shown in FIGURE 6, the side portions of the plate being indicated by the numerals 35 and 36.

The parts may be provided in different sizes and of different designs, and, as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 5, the staff 11 may be held in one hand with the head extended upwardly, and with the blanket wrapped over the head of the staff, as shown in FIGURE 5, the head or knob of the staff is forced through the opening of the face plate, and then drawn backward, or downwardly urging the blanket against the face plate. This locks the head of the staff in the face plate with the blanket secured between the head and plate, and with the staff forced, or driven into the sand the parts provide an anchor. With one of these anchors positioned at each corner of a blanket or beach towel the blanket or towel is anchored in an outstretched position, as shown in FIGURE 2.

From the foregoing description it is thought to be obvious that a beach blanket anchor constructed in accordance with this invention is particularly well adapted for use by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and used, and it will also be obvious that this invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason it is not desired to be understood as limiting the invention to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out the invention in practice, except as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a beach blanket anchor, the combination which comprises a flexible face plate having a center opening with slots extended in opposite directions therefrom and with cross slots extended from ends of the former slots, and a staff having a point on one end and an enlarged head on the opposite end, said head of the staff being of such dimensions that it passes through the center opening 3 of the face plate with the blanket extended around the head.

2. In a beach blanket anchor, the combination which comprises,

(a) a flexible face plate having a center opening therein with slots having T-shaped outer ends extended in opposite directions from the opening and toward ends of the plate,

(b) and a staff pointed at one end, enlarged throughout the intermediate portion, and having a head on the end opposite to the end having a point thereon,

(c) the size of the head of the staff being greater than the diameter of the center opening of the face plate and such that the head, with a blanket wrapped thereon may be forced through said center opening of the flexible face plate with the staff extended in sand upon which the blanket is positioned, and wherein removal of the staif, such as pulling the stalf from the sand with the blanket wrapped on the head thereof is difficult.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Crandall 267--74 Fitzsimons 24-245 Childs 5-320 X Lindsay 24245 Hedison 24-216 X Sullivan 24245 Berg 24-245 Turbeville 248-361 Carlson 24245 FOREIGN PATENTS 10/1934 Germany.

RICHARD W. COOKE, 111., Primary Examiner.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

20 M. O. WARNECKE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A BEACH BLANKET ANCHOR, THE COMBINATION WHICH COMPRISES A FLEXIBLE FACE PLATE HAVING A CENTER OPENING WITH SLOTS EXTENDED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS THEREFROM AND WITH CROSS SLOTS EXTENDED FROM ENDS OF THE FORMER SLOTS, AND A STAFF HAVING A POINT ON ONE END AND AN ENLARGED HEAD ON THE OPPOSITE END, SAID HEAD OF THE STAFF BEING OF 